recording with PZM mics

jh8406 · Post by **jh8406** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 11:44 pm

Anybody ever use these? Drums maybe? Anything else? Get creative.

HeavyHand · Post by **HeavyHand** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:23 am

i have two crown pzm's. i think they are from the late 70's. anyway... i use one as a room mic all the time. im into the sound i get with them. i record in my basement and ill put a pzm in the kitchen which is at the top of the basement steps and it sounds really giant and great.

ive also heard recently of someone (matt werden) taping two together and hanging them over a drum kit as overheads. i haven't done it but i will once i get a power supply for my second mic.

permanent hearing damage · Post by **permanent hearing damage** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:29 pm

i use them all the time as room mics for drums, guitars, vocals. very useful and great bang for your buck. i have a bunch of them.

attackedbywolves · Post by **attackedbywolves** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 3:39 pm

I like them for field recording. If you have two of them stick them either side of a board and stick it in the middle of the band and you get a nice stereo recording(once you've got everyone to stand in the right place)

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:23 pm

I love PZMs. The "down" side - they have no inherent character or mojo. The up side - they hear a lot the way a human ear does, and good ones have a very wide and flat frequency response and low self noise.

Creative use: put them in odd places. Bathroom sink, shower stall, inside a large can or jar, under a table...

woodhenge · Post by **woodhenge** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 5:32 pm

2 back-to-back hung over a drum kit can make for an interesting alternative overhead setup.

Got a pretty fat kick sound with one of those POS Radio Shack PZM mics once.

Hung on a nail on a 4'x4' piece of plywood can make for an unusual room mic. (or drywall, or glass!!! But not with a nail, though...)

Stuck 'em in a ceiling grid on a live recording gig for both crowd AND stage pickup with really great results, plus nobody messed with them 'cause they didn't know they were even there!

I think you could do about anything with one of those things...

permanent hearing damage · Post by **permanent hearing damage** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:19 am

also, if you put them on the floor, i guarantee someone steps on them or kicks them every session.

boid · Post by **boid** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:26 am

i used a friend's beta91 inside the kick for some click sound
and a condenser outside for the bottom end

turned out pretty nice imho

the guy who owns the pzm says he always uses it by itself on kick drum

about halfway in so it doesn't get to clicky

one more thing....uhm ...i read in an interview with trent reznor(nine inch nails) that he...ah fuck...found it on the net ....read for yourself

it's about downward spiral (i think 1994)

"
So we were experimenting with just two mikes, PZMs usually. We ended up taking a drum kit into about 25 different rooms---from sneaking into live rooms at A&M Studios, to bathrooms to living rooms to a garage, to outdoors. We didn't close-mike anything, just put mikes in the same position about the same distance away from the drums, then hit each drum at several velocities and recorded them on a DAT machine.
"

from http://www.9inchnails.com/articles/tren ... yboard.php

i like the drums on that album

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:14 am

i've seen photos of drummers in the studio with a Crown PZM taped to their shirt over their chest. i tried this years ago and it sounded great to me when augmented with a second mic on the kick. you can certainly add more mics from there, but it seems to be a good starting point sometimes.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:40 am

PZM mounted on a 2x2 piece of plexi is a good setup for group backup vocals.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:59 pm

taped one to the sliding glass door that's in between the control and live room... about 15 ft from the drum kit. Sounded great.

Message Board

recording with PZM mics

recording with PZM mics

Who is online